Gun sales statistics are distorted

Friday

Jul 11, 2014 at 2:00 AM

In the very first paragraph of his July 4 letter, "Sad state of gun violence in the United States," Bob Moore blew his credibility as an objective writer, when he stated, "According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 'about 40 percent of gun sales nationwide are made without a background check to see if the purchaser is a criminal or otherwise prohibited from buying guns.'" That's a startling, attention-getting statement, but it isn't true.

To the Editor:

In the very first paragraph of his July 4 letter, "Sad state of gun violence in the United States," Bob Moore blew his credibility as an objective writer, when he stated, "According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 'about 40 percent of gun sales nationwide are made without a background check to see if the purchaser is a criminal or otherwise prohibited from buying guns.'" That's a startling, attention-getting statement, but it isn't true.

Let's take a look at the truth. The genesis of that statement was a 1994 telephone survey conducted by the Police Foundation and funded by the Justice Department. The survey asked "only" 251 participants who had acquired guns in the previous two years if they had acquired their firearm from a licensed dealer. The response indicated that 35.7 percent did not; however, many transactions in that category were probably within-family transfers and/or gifts. But more importantly, the Brady background check law didn't go into effect until March 1, 1994; hence, most or all of those firearms were purchased or acquired before there was a background check requirement. Keep in mind, that whatever value this report has, it is 20 years old and certainly doesn't reflect the situation in 2014 America.

Using the above-report as a basis, Professors Cook and Ludwig of Duke University created two other reports in 1997 for the National Institute of Justice, concluding that "approximately 60 percent of gun acquisitions involved [federally licensed firearms dealers]...;". The Brady claim is based on those reports, and they rounded up the 35.7 to 40 percent. That 40 percent number has gone viral and has become gospel to the whole anti-gun crowd, including Mr. Moore.

I suspect that Mr. Moore is on the mailing lists of both the Brady and Bloomberg anti-gun organizations and he believes and relies on what he receives from them. History has shown that both thrive on telling bald-faced lies and distorting the truth in order to promote their anti-gun agendas. This 40 percent thing is typical.

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